We’re leaving for Durango in a few minutes for three days of wedding events. K’s niece is marring the great grandson of the 34th president. I have an update when I get back.
Archive for June, 2012
Off To Durango
Posted in my life on June 29, 2012| 2 Comments »
32,000 Evacuated
Posted in my life on June 27, 2012| 2 Comments »
The Waldo Canyon fire west of Colorado Springs forced 32,000 people to flee their homes last night. Parts of the Air Force Academy have been evacuated. The pictures on the local news are horrific. Officials have not said how many houses have been lost. The temperature was 105° yesterday but the forecast only calls for 98° today. The Flagstaff Fire west of Boulder was started by lightning yesterday afternoon. It has already forced evacuations. Eight other fires are also burning in Colorado. The High Park Fire, the largest, has burned 87,000 acres and is only 55% contained. There seems to be no end in sight to the fires.
107°
Posted in my life on June 26, 2012| Leave a Comment »
It was a record breaking 107° downtown yesterday. It’s a little before seven and it’s already 80°. It should get up to 103° today. There are now ten wildfires burning in Colorado. The air smells like smoke again this morning. I’m praying for rain.
Sunday Update
Posted in my life on June 25, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Sunday was a scorcher. It reached 103°. I started cleaning house in the morning and then got distracted by the garden. I decided it was too hot to be outside after working in the yard for an hour. I guzzled about a half gallon of water when I came inside. I headed to the gym after eating lunch and returning a few phone calls. The gym was a blast furnace. The air conditioning was on the fritz. The sun was streaming in the floor to ceiling west facing windows roasting the members in the cardio area. I lasted about an hour before I threw in the towel and went home. After getting cleaned up I headed over to the mall to pick up a few t-shirts on sale at Eddie Bauer. I parked lower level of the parking garage so I wouldn’t get branded by hot black leather seats on the drive home. The mall is always a cool haven on hot summer days. In addition to the t-shirts, I bought two dress shirts on sale at J. Crew and two shirts and a cashmere sweater on sale at Neiman Marcus. You probably think I’m losing my mind for buying a cashmere sweater during a heat wave. The air conditioning in Neiman’s must have been set on arctic cool because the store was coolest in the mall. It was not uncomfortable to try on the sweater. I did pass on trying on a fur lined hoodie. I got home from the mall a little before six. Mike had left a message inviting me to dinner. I fed the cat and walked around the corner to Mike and Chris’ for dinner. I hung out with Mike and Chris for a while after dinner and then heading home when some unexpected friends stopped by to see Mike. I never did finish cleaning the house. Guess what I’ll be doing tonight?
Three Hells
Posted in friends, my life on June 23, 2012| 1 Comment »
It’s hotter than three hells. It reached 104° again today. There are now five wildfires burning in Colorado. The latest in Estes Park has already burned sixteen houses.
Deb and Jessie are having a small dinner party tonight in celebration of the completion of their kitchen remodel. Tom and Sheila are picking me up twenty minutes. I have to jump in the shower. More to come….
More Departures
Posted in work on June 22, 2012| 1 Comment »
The company’s CIO is leaving in early July. He’s the third CIO in the three years I’ve been under contract with the company. Also, the number two IT guy in Ireland is leaving at the same time. It’s not clear if they are leaving on their own or getting the boot. It’s odd that both are leaving at the same time so I bet they’re getting fired.
Out of Rehab
Posted in friends on June 21, 2012| 1 Comment »
Mike got out of rehab last Friday. He’s recuperating at home watching Nurse Jackie on demand. Mike is hoping to get a new hip in six weeks. Mike is walking with crutches and doesn’t need any in-home assistance. Chris, Mike’s partner, told me he is so overwhelmed that he doesn’t know what to do. Bitch, please! Chris quit his job a few months ago because the company was “so fucked up”. Chris only worked there for four months. When asked, Chris could not articulate why the company was so “fucked up”. He quit his previous job too because it was a “horrible place to work”. Mike and Chris have two housekeepers, a pool service, a yard service, an in-home dog groomer and a service that picks up the dog turds in the back yard twice a week. Granted, taking care of a partner can be a lot of work but being overwhelmed is a bit of a stretch when one only has to prepare meals or order take out. Chris has an art undergraduate degree and a web design certificate. He’s never been employed as a working artist or a web designer. I like Chris but his lack of ambition and motivation drives me crazy. Can you guess which one is the millennial? Can you guess who has a medical marijuana card so he can buy pot for recreational use? I bet you guessed correctly.
It’s Too Hot
Posted in my life on June 19, 2012| 2 Comments »
It’s a wonderful week in Colorado. There are two wild fires burning. The High Park Fire has burned 59,000 acres and 189 homes. The Springer has only burned 1,100 acres but 150 homes have been evacuated. The temperature in Denver was 102° yesterday. There are layoffs at work. It just doesn’t get any better.
Updates 6/11/2012
Posted in friends, garden, my life on June 11, 2012| 1 Comment »
There’s a new wildfire burning out of control west of Ft. Collins. The fire has burned more than 36,000 acres and 18 structures. The smoke has been blowing into the Denver area.
Cindi’s birthday was yesterday. I’m not sure if she turned 49 or 50. I left her birthday wishes on her voice mail but she didn’t call back.
Mike has been in the hospital for two weeks. He got an infection from a dog bite. The doctors had to remove one of his artificial hips. They put in a spacer for the next six weeks. He was transferred to a rehab facility on Sunday. He’ll get a new hip in six weeks if the infection is cleared up. This will be his sixth hip; the two he was born with plus four artificial hips. Mike turns 49 this year.
Trish and I went to the Denver Art Museum and the Botanic Gardens on Sunday. The DAM has a Madeleine Albright’s pin collection on display and a new photography exhibit. Both shows were really interesting. The botanic garden is in full bloom and has an installation of bamboo sculptures that are magnificent. It was a fun afternoon. We had a quick dinner at Pei Wei, a lower priced chain owned by P. F. Chang, before heading home.
The agave in the front yard is going to bloom.
Hanging With The Wrong Crowd
Posted in my life on June 5, 2012| 2 Comments »
The phone rang at two in morning on Sunday. The caller id showed a number from an eastern suburb but no name. The woman caller said she was at the twenty-four hour Starbucks next to Barnes and Noble by the Mercedes dealership. She had our cat. She said Ferdinand was hanging out in the parking lot. Apparently, Ferdinand wanted a vanilla bean crème frappuccino so he walked over to Starbucks and decided to hang out. I got dressed and drove the two blocks over to Starbucks to retrieve Ferdinand. Ferdinand wasn’t happy being at home. He wanted out. I had no choice but to put him in the garage and lock the cat door so he wouldn’t sneak back out. He doesn’t need to be hanging out with the after bar crowd at Starbucks.
The Corporate Slave 